


Meddling Spirits

by ddelusionall



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, JYJ (Band)
Genre: Demonic Possession, Ghosts, M/M, Minor Character Death, Religious Discussion, Yoochun is a medium, because Changmin is a ghost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-03
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23879770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddelusionall/pseuds/ddelusionall
Summary: Yoochun sees ghosts. He doesn't mind, except when they interfere with his life.
Relationships: Jung Yunho (DBSK)/Kim Junsu (JYJ), Kim Jaejoong/Park Yoochun
Kudos: 2





	1. The Meddling Spirits

**Author's Note:**

> I am importing my stories from LiveJournal. The original fic can be found [here](http://be-ddelusionall.livejournal.com/).
> 
> I haven't read this story in a long time, so I may have missed some tags. Just let me know if I did.

Yoochun sighed and wound his way through the crowded café to a table near the back. There was already a man there, but it was the only empty seat Yoochun could see.

“Excuse me,” Yoochun said.

The man looked up and Yoochun lost the ability to speak for a moment. He had dark eyes framed by dark hair. Pale skin. Pink lips. He was beautiful in a way that Yoochun had only seen on females before, but his jaw was sharp, neck line long. He wore a hoody and jeans.

“Um … do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full.”

The man’s eyes widened and he looked around the café. “Good one. But I’m not interested.”

Yoochun’s brow furrowed. “N-no, I …” He broke off when the sounds around him suddenly died.

The café was empty.

“Well, hell,” Yoochun said to the room in general. He heard someone giggle. “Sorry. They’re always so meddling.” More laughter “Never mind.”

Yoochun turned around and the man said, “Sit. It’s all right.”

He turned back and met the man’s dark eyes.

“Just sit. I doubt that has ever worked for you before.”

Yoochun smiled. “I’ve never tried it before,” he said, sitting down across from him.

“Who’s they?” Jaejoong said. “You said they’re always meddling.”

Yoochun shook his head.

“You should tell him.”

Yoochun felt the presence next to him, but whoever it was, was staying invisible.

“Yeah, tell him. He’s not going to think you’re crazy.”

“Well, he might, but he’ll at least listen to you.”

Yoochun made a face.

“What?” the man said.

“Nothing, they …” The canopy of voices increased.

The man looked amused. “What’s your name, slightly crazy stranger?”

“Yoochun. Park Yoochun.”

“My name is Jaejoong. I think I’ve seen you here before.”

Yoochun wasn’t sure, but he nodded. “Maybe. I come here a lot.”

“So, who’s they?”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“I already do. But it’s kind of cute. Are you schizo or something?”

“Some people think so.”

His eyebrows rose as he sipped on his coffee. Yoochun had forgotten about his and drank slowly.

Yoochun sighed, and then said, “Do you believe in ghosts, Jaejoong-shi?”

Jaejoong smiled. “Yes. Do you?”

“It’s a little hard not to when you can see them.”

His eyes went very wide. “You-you can see them?”

“Yeah. They’re drawn to me. They talk to me. Sometimes I go around and help them with some unfinished business. Things like that.”

“You’re right. I think you might be crazy.”

A little girl appeared at Jaejoong’s elbow and she reached for his pen where it lay on the table.

“Jenna!” Yoochun said just as her fingers curled around it.

The pen clattered to the floor. The girl disappeared.

Jaejoong swallowed, looking at it on the floor.

“Sorry. That was Jenna. She’s only six, but she likes pens. Jenna, pick it up and give it back.”

Soft laughter filled the room, and Jaejoong had heard it, eyes going impossibly wider. His fingers shook as the pen moved across the floor.

“S-she can keep it,” Jaejoong stammered.

“Not all of them can touch things like that. And not all of them can talk. Jenna only laughs.”

“A-are any of them … can … will they hurt you?” Jaejoong asked.

Yoochun smiled. “No. The ones that follow me keep the bad ones away. Most of the time. Some are pretty strong.”

“That’s … crazy …” Jaejoong looked at the table top. “God, I’m suddenly … like … nervous and scared and …”

“I’ve gotten used to it. They wanted me to sit by you for some reason, so they filled up all the tables, and … I see so many of them that I don’t really question who is alive and who isn’t.”

A woman appeared next to Jaejoong’s shoulder. “I don’t like him.” Her voice fell to a whisper. “He’s attracted to men.”

Yoochun tried not to laugh. “Ahjuma, come on. So am I, remember?”

“Who are you talking to? That’s freaky,” Jaejoong said.

The woman huffed and crossed her arms. “I told them not to. You need to find a good girl to settle down with. Not an abomination.”

This time Yoochun did laugh. To Jaejoong, he said, “Ahjuma is telling me to go find a pretty girl instead of you. She’s very traditional. She died in nineteen ten.”

“Nineteen eleven, Yoochun-ah,” she corrected.

“My apologies,” Yoochun said. “Nineteen-eleven is when she died.”

Jaejoong shivered. “How … how are you still sane?”

Yoochun laughed. “Most people who find out call me crazy.” A slight buzzing filled his head as the ghosts that had disappeared reappeared. He shook his head. “And they give me privacy when I need it or when I ask for it.”

“That’s … nice of them.”

“You’re totally freaked out,” Yoochun said.

Jaejoong shrugged and made a face. “Maybe a little.”

“They’re all around you all the time, Jaejoong. Some are stuck here for unknown reasons. Some just need closure.”

“So is there a heaven then?”

Yoochun shrugged. “I don’t know. They don’t know, since all they’ve known is Earth. But sometimes, spirits I’m familiar with are suddenly gone. Or they say they’re going somewhere new. A few of them are stuck in places where they died, unable to leave. Others are like Jenna and the Ahjuma, who follow me around just because I’m familiar and they can.”

“Do you use this to help the police or anything?”

Yoochun laughed. “Yes. But very anonymously. I went to them once to offer my services and … well, they didn’t believe me, no matter how many times I proved it, and in one case a few years ago, they thought I did it, because I knew so much about the murder.”

“That would suck.”

“Yeah. I just make anonymous phone calls now.”

“I … uh, have to get to work, but …” He reached for his pen, eyes darting to where it lay on the floor.

Yoochun rose and went over and picked it up. He felt little fingers trying to pull it back.

Jaejoong shook his head at the offered pen. Yoochun sat down, frowning.

Jaejoong pushed the napkin to him. “This … well, I like you. You seem fun, but … this … this is a little weird. So, I … I want your number, and if I can come to terms with this, then I’ll call you.”

“That’s fair,” Yoochun said, and scribbled down his name and number.

“You should add a heart,” a female voice said in his ear. “That’s what I would do.”

Yoochun smiled. “Jessica says I should add a heart, too.” Yoochun drew a heart and then another one.

“Jessica?”

Yoochun nodded. “She was here in Korea with family in the eighties and she died when a building collapsed. Her family survived. But she’s still here, hoping they’ll come back for her.”

Jaejoong frowned. “That’s really sad.”

“Yeah. A lot of their stories are sad.”

“I like him,” Jessica said, suddenly appearing behind Jaejoong. “He’s gorgeous.”

“She says you’re gorgeous.”

Jaejoong shivered and stood up quickly. “That’s … um … well.”

“I understand,” Yoochun said. “I’ve had my heart broken a lot because of this. At least you know right away, before my heart is in this.”

“I … well, if anything, I’ll see you around here.”

Yoochun nodded. “Yeah. It was nice to meet you.”

“You, too. And Jenna.”

The girl laughed, excited.

Jaejoong jumped, looking around, and then he left. Yoochun sighed and put his head on the table. “I hate you all,” he muttered. Hands rubbed his shoulders, and he ignored their crooning and whispers of forgiveness.

\---

Two weeks later, Yoochun hadn’t heard from Jaejoong, and therefore, decided that Jaejoong wanted nothing to do with him. The last three times Yoochun had been at the café, he’d been in a rush, and hadn’t done more than glance for Jaejoong.

But now it was Sunday and he could sit with his laptop and write out his ghost adventures. He wrote about his own life, turning his autobiography and the stories of his ghost friends into novels of suspense and crime and greed. He’d almost been on the best seller list twice. He wondered if Jaejoong had read any of his books. Or if he’d gone online after they met and searched his name.

It didn’t matter too much. Men left him for a lot less than finding out he could talk to ghosts.

He lost himself in his latte and in his laptop, fingers flying over the keys as he let his character get emotionally involved in a case surrounding the death of a little boy. It was a story he had been postponing writing, because he hadn’t known the little boy, just the mother. She had left Yoochun years ago. He didn’t know where. Maybe she had found her son. Maybe she had moved on without him. Yoochun wasn’t sure. It was going to be his first book where the mystery wasn’t solved. His agent wasn’t too thrilled about that, but Hyunjoong said to write it and then they’d talk.

A throat cleared next to him, and he looked up, into Jaejoong’s eyes.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” he asked. “Everywhere else is full.”

Yoochun smiled widely, because the café was almost empty. “Sure.”

Jaejoong sat down. “You didn’t tell me you were famous.”

“You didn’t ask.”

“Are your books true stories?”

“Mostly.”

“Wow. I read three of them this week. They’re good.”

Yoochun grinned. “Thank you. What do you do?”

“Nothing so glamorous. My day job is a lackey in a cubicle for a financial company. But on the weekends, I’m a singer at _Shelter_ down the street.”

“I’ve always meant to go in there,” Yoochun said. “Now I wish I had. I love music.”

“I performed last night, so you’ll excuse the tiredness and hang over-ness.”

Yoochun laughed. “Yeah.”

“Are you working on something new?”

“Yeah. I can’t talk about it.”

“I understand. I was going to call you, but … yeah.”

“It’s all right. I get it.”

“How many friends are with you right now?”

Yoochun shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t always see them, and even if I do, I can’t always tell they aren’t alive.”

Jaejoong cleared his throat and looked down. “I … uh … “ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pink pen with fluffy feathers at the end of it.

Childish, happy laughter echoed in Yoochun’s head and the feathers blew in unseen wind.

Yoochun smiled widely. “She likes it.”

Jaejoong nodded. A moment later, he froze and then Jenna appeared in his lap. She clapped her hands, face full of joy as she played with the pink feathers.

“She’s …”

Yoochun nodded. “Yep.”

“I can … feel her. I guess that’s what that pressure on my lap is, right?”

“Yeah. She loves that pen.”

Jaejoong gasped and dropped it as Jenna put her hand around his. The pen clattered on the table and then Jenna squealed and rolled it back and forth. She flickered in and out of Yoochun’s vision as she played.

“God, that is freaky,” Jaejoong said, but he was smiling.

“You get used to it, I guess.” Yoochun saved his writing and then closed his laptop. “Wanna get out of here? Go get some lunch?”

“Sure.” He picked up the pen and then winced as it was tugged back.

“Jenna,” Yoochun said. “It’s time to put it away. But Jaejoong will have it again.”

The girl pouted and then smiled and was suddenly gone. Jaejoong stared at the pen. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

Yoochun laughed.

\--

They went out almost every day, dinner, lunch and sometimes breakfast at the café. Jaejoong had a lot of questions about being a medium that Yoochun didn’t mind answering. Yoochun went to Jaejoong’s apartment and declared it free of spirits. For now, but with Yoochun there, the place filled up pretty quickly, even if the spirits stayed invisible so they wouldn’t intrude.

Yoochun was used to the feeling of always being in a crowded place.

He learned that Jaejoong wanted to be a chef, and then ended up going to business school. They sang together and played music together and when Jaejoong first kissed him, Yoochun was sure his heart was going to explode.

A few weeks after that, they lay in the middle of Jaejoong’s living room, heads next to each other, but the rest of their bodies spread out. Jenna’s pink pen stilled on the floor, and then for the first time in a long time, Yoochun felt utterly alone.

Jaejoong took his hand.

So not completely alone.

Their heads turned and they kissed sideways and upside down.

Yoochun smiled into the kiss and then whispered, “We are utterly alone.”

Jaejoong’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“Are you just saying that so I’ll let you undress me?”

Yoochun laughed. “Maybe. Did it work?”

Jaejoong sat up and then kneeled. Yoochun propped up on an elbow and watched him unbutton his shirt.

Jaejoong bit his lower lip. “You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Okay.” Jaejoong leaned over him and their lips met. Yoochun slipped his hands into Jaejoong’s open shirt and around his back, pulling him down on top of him. Jaejoong grunted and then moaned as Yoochun rocked his hips up.

“I still feel like I’m being watched,” Jaejoong said.

“That is probably Jessica, but—”

Jaejoong shivered. “Damn it.”

Yoochun laughed. “Why do you think I don’t jerk off unless I’m in the shower? They know not to bother me in the bathroom.”

“Should we take this to the bathroom then?”

Yoochun grinned. “Might be a good idea.”

Jaejoong groaned and rocked against Yoochun. “Yeah … let’s … not an ideal spot for a first time, but … yeah. Easy access to the shower afterwards.”

\---

The bathroom door shut behind the two lovers and a girl appeared in the living room.

“That is so not fair,” she said and flicked her long hair.

“It’s your fault, Jess,” a guy said. “We had prime seats to some boy loving and as always, you just can’t help but let Yoochun know you’re there.”

“Shut up, Seunghyung.”

Seunghyung sniffed at her and went back to looking at his nails. “One day Jaejoong will be used to us and they’ll be so fucking horny they won’t care and then we can watch.”

Jessica sighed and picked up Jaejoong’s discarded shirt. “He’s so pretty.”

“God, no kidding. Did you see his abs? His body is gorgeous.”

A moan echoed through the room, startling them both.

“Let’s get out of here,” Seunghyung said. “I cannot listen to them fuck. It’s so not fair.”

They both flew up, through the ceiling. The white shirt caught in the ceiling fan and floated in the light breeze coming in from the open window.


	2. The Newbie Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shim Changmin died and he needs Yoochun's help.

Yoochun woke up sometime in the middle of the early morning when something sat on his legs.

“Oh, sorry. I-I didn’t mean to wake you up. I was just going to wait.”

Yoochun sat up and rubbed his eyes. Jaejoong murmured next to him, but didn’t wake up.

The young man at the foot of his bed was gangly-limbed, stuck between teenage years and adulthood. He had brown hair and a slightly pudgy face. His long legs were folded beneath him and his arms were resting on his knees.

“I’m still trying to get used to this whole being dead thing.”

Yoochun smiled. “What can I do for you?” he whispered.

The young man bit his lower lip. “I … I don’t know. I was told you could help.”

Yoochun slipped from the bed despite Jaejoong’s attempts to clutch at him in his sleep.

“Sorry,” the young man said, and if he’d been in a body he’d be blushing.

Yoochun smiled and waved it away. He was more than used to his visitors interrupting his sleep. He pulled on a pair of sweat pants. “Follow me.”

The young man stood, one leg disappearing into the bed, and then walked out of it. Yoochun led the way to the kitchen and then started a pot of tea. Spirits liked tea, even if they couldn’t drink it.

“What’s your name?”

The young man frowned for a moment and then said, “Shim Changmin.”

“How long have you been dead?”

“Four days.”

“Wow. You are a newbie.”

“Yeah.”

“What brings you to my kitchen?”

“They can’t find my body and no one knows I’m missing.”

“Oh. So where is your body?”

“I don’t know. I was jumped and then dumped somewhere.”

Yoochun tried not to sigh. Spirits didn’t get the concept of distance. In two blinks of an eye, Changmin could be in the United States. Fortunately, all spirits knew where they died. Some lingered there, some didn’t.

“But you can take me there?” Yoochun asked.

“Yes. I walked …” Changmin snorted. “Excuse me. I floated here, taking my time so I would know the way back.”

“How far?”

“Far enough that you’ll want to drive.”

Yoochun nodded. “You said no one knows you’re missing?”

Changmin shook his head. “I’m in college.” He sighed. “I was in college, and I don’t have a roommate. I call my mother every Sunday. I was jumped on Monday. Today is Thursday, well almost Friday. The only person who is worried is Kim Junsu. He’s in my English class, and I’ve missed one class, and I never ever ever miss a class. And he’s asked around and no one has seen me. Even though I’ve been there.” Changmin’s spiritual chest hitched like he was trying to cry.

“It’s … I’ve … I’ve always been a bit of a loner, Yoochun-shi, and I … but to actually be invisible. It really hurts.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Yoochun said. “I’ll help you out.”

“Really?”

Yoochun nodded.

“Chunnie,” Jaejoong’s voice said in the hall. A moment later, he entered the kitchen, beautifully sleep rumpled and only in a pair of boxers. “Who’re you talking to?”

Yoochun smiled and opened his arms and Jaejoong snuggled up against his chest. “A young man by the name of Changmin. I need to go find his body.”

Jaejoong pulled away and made a face. “Ew.”

Changmin snorted. “It’s four days old, imagine how pretty it is.”

“He can’t hear you,” Yoochun said.

“No? He’s too pretty to be a man.”

Yoochun laughed. “Be glad he can’t hear you. He would have slapped you for that one.”

“What?” Jaejoong asked.

“He called you pretty.”

Jaejoong pouted in Changmin’s general direction. “I am not pretty. I’m handsome.”

“Keep telling yourself that, blondie.”

Yoochun laughed and relayed the message.

“Oh that is it. Please tell me I’m older than him.”

“You are.”

“Then you,” he pointed his finger, but not at Changmin and Yoochun moved his hand so the gesture was threatening its target. “You have to respect me.”

“Respect the dead, hyung,” Changmin said, laughing from where he sat on the table top.

After Yoochun replied, Jaejoong pouted again and said, “I don’t like this one.”

“You don’t like anyone that calls you pretty. Do you want to come with me?”

“On a body recovery? No thanks.”

“Not a recovery. I just have to go find it and then call the police. I don’t plan on getting near a five day old corpse. Let me shower and get some coffee in me and then you can lead the way, Changmin.”

“Thanks, hyung.”

Jaejoong grumbled about having to get out Yoochun’s lap and then brightened at the offer to join him in the shower. It was still the only place the two of them felt alone, and Jaejoong never passed up an opportunity to put hand prints on the mirror and shoot come all over the bathroom counter.

\---

Changmin’s body was in a field southwest of Seoul. The buildings around it were warehouses and the closest home was a ten minute drive. No one would have noticed it for another week until the smell was really bad. As it was, Yoochun could smell it just fine, and he refused to get closer.

His least favorite thing was calling the police, and he doubted there was a pay phone around where he could make an anonymous tip.

“It is rather grotesque to look at,” Changmin said above him, “even from this far away.”

Yoochun nodded and fished out his cell phone. He called a number he had on speed dial and hoped that Yunho wasn’t on a call.

“Oh god, what do you want?” Yunho said as a hello.

“Body recovery.”

“Fuck. Where?”

“It’s out of your jurisdiction.”

“Do you have any idea how much you fucking owe me?” Yunho demanded.

“A lot, I know. Look. This kid has been dead for five days now and no one knows he’s missing. His mother won’t start to worry until Sunday. He has a little sister, and he was a freshman in college. At seventeen. He deserves to be properly buried.”

“Fine, fine, fine. Where are you?”

Yoochun told Yunho where he was and Yunho cursed. “Oh god. That pretty boyfriend of yours better be prepared to make me some hella good grub for this.” Yunho hung up on him.

Yoochun sat on the hood of his car and watched Changmin float above him. “You going to stick around?”

He sighed. “I um … can I ask one more favor?”

“Sure.”

“When I was jumped, they … my chain broke. Around my neck, and it’s stupid. You’re going to laugh.”

Yoochun shook his head and lifted a necklace up. It was simple, just a metal crescent. “My father died when I was younger, probably about your age, and I waited to see him. I waited and waited and waited, but then he never showed up. It was … it hurt. The day after his funeral I found this on my bed. Which was really freaky because he’d been buried with it around his neck.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“My sister gave me a Hello Kitty charm that was on her favorite bracelet and I wore it around my neck so I wouldn’t lose it.”

“That’s not stupid. It’s really sweet. Let’s go find it.”

Changmin tried to stay in Yoochun’s passenger seat, to practice the whole being a spirit thing, but while they were talking, he kept forgetting to concentrate and ended up going through the car and having to catch up.

When they were back in Seoul, Changmin stood in the middle of an alley, frowning.

“It was the weirdest thing,” Changmin said. “I walked through this alley every night. The man who has the stand on the corner always gave me a pack of ramen to take home for dinner.”

Yoochun leaned against a brick wall and watched as Changmin flickered in and out of existence while walking up and down the alley.

“I guess … I’d stayed at the library later than usual, and it was really dark, and I don’t know. I’m not rich. I didn’t have anything of value except my iPhone.”

Yoochun smiled and said, “Yes, you did.” He’d seen a sparkle of silver near the wall and went over there. The Hello Kitty charm was covered in dirt, but intact. He held it up and Changmin sighed. His hand passed through it.

“Thanks, hyung.”

Changmin winked out, and Yoochun was startled for a moment. But that sometimes happened with the spirits that where only there for some unfinished business.

Yoochun climbed into the car. His cell phone rang and he answered it before he started driving. A lot of spirits were spirits because they were stupid while they were alive.

“This is a murder investigation now. I hope you’re happy.”

“Do you want me to tell you where it happened?”

“You were there?”

“Artifact recovery, something that belonged to Changmin that he wants me to give back to his sister. It’s a frequented alleyway, and it’s been five days. I doubt there’s much evidence.” Yoochun told him where it was.

“That makes it my jurisdiction.”

“Yep.”

“Any other helpful information?”

“He doesn’t know who did it. Three guys jumped him from behind and it was dark and he was knocked out almost immediately. Then he was dead and floating above his body.”

Yunho sighed. “Please don’t go tell his mother until we have her identify the body.”

Yoochun promised he wouldn’t.

\---

A sinking sense of déjà vu filled Yoochun as he woke up at three a.m. to weight on his legs.

“Shit, sorry,” Changmin said.

Yoochun rubbed his eyes and yawned. “I thought you were gone.”

“I went to watch over my mom when … yeah … My funeral is today.”

“Are you going to go?”

Changmin sighed. “That’s weird.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

Changmin nodded. “My mom is very spiritual, but not in the religious sort of way. She believes in the afterlife and in spirits and she’ll believe you if you tell her you can see me.”

Yoochun looked at him and then nodded. “I still have to return your sister’s charm, too.”

“Now what?” Jaejoong mumbled.

Yoochun kissed his cheek. “Just Changmin.”

“I thought that disrespectful ghoul was gone.”

Yoochun smiled.

And Changmin started chanting, “Pretty,” over and over until his voice actually echoed in the room.

Jaejoong moaned and chucked his pillow at the sound and it flew through Changmin’s head.

“That would have hit him.”

Jaejoong grunted in approval and curled around Yoochun’s pillow since his was across the room.

“Tell Jaejoong to come too. My mom will like him.”

“Okay.”

Yoochun knew he wouldn’t sleep again, so he got up and picked Jaejoong’s pillow off the floor. He sauntered into the kitchen and sat at his laptop. He’d spent the last three days working Changmin’s story into his next novel. He didn’t stop typing until Jaejoong woke up at seven, and then the two of them got ready to go.

Changmin’s funeral had been at nine, but Yoochun waited until the services were over and most of the guests had gone.

Changmin’s mother was tall, just like he was, but not quite as. His father was over six feet though. His younger sister clung to his hand as they received guest after guest.

Surprisingly, Yunho was there, and Yoochun headed to him first.

Yunho smiled and shook his hand, and said hello to Jaejoong. “Thanks, Yoochun-ah. There’s no way we would have found or known who had died if it wasn’t for you.”

“Not going to convict me of this one, huh?”

“No. We can’t convict anyone of it, and it’s frustrating, but the parents are doing well. They do want to know how we knew it was their son though. There wasn’t a stitch of identification on him.”

Yoochun looked over at the family and smiled. Changmin was behind them, hands on his mother’s shoulders. A young man went up to the family and Yoochun headed over to him.

“He was in my English class,” Yoochun caught the young man saying.

“You’re Kim Junsu,” Yoochun said, remembering his name.

Junsu jerked in surprise and narrowed his eyes at this mysterious stranger.

“Changmin said you’d be the first one to notice he was gone. He wanted you to know that he didn’t miss last Wednesday’s class, but leaned over your shoulder and laughed at you while you wrote the wrong answers.”

Junsu’s eyes went wide.

“And you are?” Changmin’s father asked.

“Park Yoochun,” he said and bowed ninety degrees. He just noticed that Jaejoong and Yunho had followed him over and he introduced Jaejoong as his boyfriend.

“Yoochun-shi is the one who told us about Changmin,” Yunho said. “He’s a medium, and he helps out the police when we’re smart enough to listen to him.”

Changmin’s mother’s eyes widened. “You’ve spoken to my son.”

“Yes. Quite frequently actually.”

“Please don’t tell them I’m here,” Changmin said quickly. “I don’t want my mom to cry.”

“I told you, Mother,” the sister said and crossed her arms. She looked at Yoochun. “I said that I saw him in the kitchen yesterday and she didn’t believe me.”

Yoochun squatted in front of her and then reached into his pocket. “Well, Changmin dropped this and he asked me to find it and give it back to you.” He opened his hand and the girl smiled widely and grabbed at the Hello Kitty charm. And then she frowned and started to cry. Just little tears. Too stubborn to really cry. Yoochun stood back up.

“Can we put it in his casket, Momma, please? It’s his now. Not mine.”

His mother looked close to tears again and she nodded. His father picked up the girl and let her drop the charm in next to her brother’s body.

“Now he’ll never lose it.”

Yoochun felt tears in his own eyes and Jaejoong grasped his hand tightly.

They went to the cemetery with the family upon his mother’s insistence and watched as Changmin’s casket was lowered into the ground.

“I hate funerals,” Junsu said suddenly.

Yoochun smiled. “They’re for the living more than the dead.”

Junsu looked at him closely. “Are you saying there isn’t a heaven?”

Yoochun shook his head. “I don’t know if there is a heaven or not. Spirits stay on Earth because it’s familiar. I’ve heard some talk of a bright light, and others talk of a dark hole. I’ve helped spirits out like I have with Changmin and as soon as what they needed is done, they’re gone and I never see them again. Maybe they go to heaven, maybe they’re reincarnated”

Junsu thought about that and then nodded. “So they’re waiting.”

Yoochun smiled again. “Usually. But what they’re waiting for, no one knows.”

“I’m waiting for lunch,” Yunho said and looked at Jaejoong.

Jaejoong covered his mouth with his hand and laughed. “And Yoochun owes you which means I have to cook.”

“Damn right.”

“You can come with if you want,” Yoochun said to Junsu. “Jaejoong is a good cook.”

Junsu looked over at the Shim Family, again complete with a fuzzy form of their son, and then nodded. The four of them paid their respects and then left the family to their grief. They stopped at the market for Jaejoong to run in to get some meat, and then they went back to Yoochun and Jaejoong’s apartment.

Junsu seemed nervous, but Yunho just dropped into the couch and put his feet up.

“Take your shoes off, Yunho, aish,” Jaejoong said.

Yunho waved a hand at him in dismissal, but did as he was asked. Suit jackets were removed and hung up, pleasantries exchanged about how much nicer Yoochun’s apartment looked now that Jaejoong lived there, and then they congregated in the kitchen around the table and Yoochun opened his laptop. Jaejoong started cooking right away.

“Can you really see ghosts?” Junsu asked.

Yoochun smiled. “When they let me.”

“Are there any here now?” His voice sounded almost fearful.

“Not that are visible. It’s a bit crowded in here. But don’t be alarmed if you hear noises or footsteps elsewhere.”

“And laughter,” Jaejoong said. “That’s the freakiest.”

“Awesome!” Changmin suddenly said next to Yoochun. “Another weakness.” And then he laughed, and it sounded disembodied and demonic. Jaejoong dropped a spoon and Junsu cursed.

Yoochun laughed and waved a hand through Changmin’s arm. “Just Changmin.”

“Stupid, ungrateful dongsaeng,” Jaejoong muttered darkly. “You better be glad I can’t see you or touch you, dongsaeng. I would punch you so hard that you’d feel it in your next life.”

Changmin laughed and settled on the table, and Yoochun was typing through his leg. “Minnie.” Yoochun whined.

“Sorry.”

Yoochun had to explain to the other three and then had to tell Changmin to get out of Jaejoong’s way. Jaejoong kept walking through him and shivering.

“It smells so good,” Changmin whined. “I want some. This isn’t fair. I used to love to eat.”

“He wants to eat your food.”

Jaejoong stuck his tongue out at the last cold spot he walked through. “Too bad for you.”

“Are you as freaked out by this as I am?” Junsu asked Yunho.

Yunho nodded and then smiled. “Yeah, but you get used to it.”

Yoochun tried to concentrate on his novel, but knew he wouldn’t get much work done with Jaejoong snapping at Changmin’s spirit everyone and then. A wooden spoon suddenly lifted from the counter and then dropped and Jaejoong shouted, “Oh my god, get out of my kitchen. All of you. Especially you, Changmin you freak of the spiritual world. Out out out or I’ll never cook again.”

Junsu’s laughter echoed around them, and Yunho smiled at him in a way that Yoochun recognized.

“Oh god,” Changmin said. “Not them, too.”

“Go find yourself some spiritual booty.”

“What?” Junsu and Jaejoong said at once.

“Nothing,” Yoochun said and smiled at Changmin. “Let’s get out of Jaejoong’s kitchen. You too Changmin.”

“But he can’t even see me,” Changmin whined but followed him out anyway.

Yoochun herded them to the living room, and Yunho asked Junsu if he liked video games, and Junsu was more than eager to play. Jaejoong started singing in the kitchen, and Changmin added his voice to it, and Yoochun smiled widely at how good they sounded together. It was too bad he was the only one who could hear it.

“Damn it,” Junsu said and Yunho cried out in victory.

“Doesn’t matter,” Changmin muttered. “He was cheating anyway.” He swiped at Junsu’s head and his hair blew in a wind, and he jerked around and looked at Yoochun.

Yoochun smiled. “Changmin says you’re cheating.”

“I am not!”

“I knew it!” Yunho shouted and then laughed and hugged Junsu to him.

Junsu blushed.

Changmin snorted. “God, they’re so obvious. I bet it takes Junsu weeks to figure it out.”

Yoochun laughed and settled deeper into the couch and watched as Junsu cheated his way to a victory. Or Yunho let him win. Yoochun wasn’t sure.

“Thanks for all your help, hyung,” Changmin said and sat half on and half in the couch.

“I don’t mind helping those that deserve it, Changmin.”

“Do you mind if I hang out for a little while?”

Yoochun glanced over at him.

“I died young,” Changmin said. “I don’t … I don’t know. I feel like I can do more stuff. Experience things. You know.”

Yoochun nodded. “Yeah, I know. And sure. I don’t mind.”

“Don’t mind what?’ Jaejoong asked.

“Changmin’s going to stick around for a little while.”

Jaejoong glowered and then said, “Fine, but tell him to stop waking me up by screaming pretty in my ear.”

Yoochun laughed.

Changmin smirked and practically cackled. Again it was heard throughout the room.

“Yep, that’s creepy,” Jaejoong said.

“Your prettiness is creepy,” Changmin replied.

And Yoochun spent the next five minutes being in the middle of their bantering, before refusing to cooperate and concentrating on his laptop again.


	3. The Tortured Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoochun's life is perfect until he loses what is most important.

Yoochun snapped awake.

It took a moment for him to realize that their bed was shaking violently. He sat up, arms to his side for balance. He kept the fear way until he looked down at his lover.

Jaejoong’s eyes were wide open, his mouth gaping. He wasn’t breathing. His skin was white, practically glowing blue in the dark room.

“Jaejoong!” Yoochun reached for him.

Electricity shot up his arm, zapping him and throwing him backwards. He tumbled to the floor, hitting his head on the nightstand. The room swam and he fought the dizziness while scrambling to his knees. The shaking of the bed sped up. The room darkened beyond what was considered darkness.

A deep, growling voice pulsed, “Mine” in the waves of darkness.

Jaejoong’s arms suddenly shot to the side. His back arched and he slammed back to the bed and Yoochun heard something snap.

Yoochun shouted his name again and tried to get to him. Again, an unseen force kept him back, fingers just short of Jaejoong’s bare skin.

“Mine. My light now.”

Something swirled around him. Something positive. Calm.

“He’s ... we don’t know. We can’t do anything.” The voices continued around him. “It’s too powerful. We don’t know what it is.”

Yoochun kept his eyes on his lover, his best friend. He wasn’t religious in the normal sense of the word--he was still on the fence about heaven and god--but every good had an opposite bad. If there was something this strong and evil in the afterlife, that had to mean there was something equally as strong and good.

Yoochun gripped the crescent necklace around his neck and started talking to the only person who might listen, “Dad. Please, help me. Dad. Please. Go it away. Make it go away, please. Help me. Help him. Please. God, please.”

The bed jolted, knocking Yoochun to the side again.

“Mine.”

He stayed on his knees, curled up and prayed to whoever was there to listen.

The sudden silence was deafening.

Yoochun almost jumped onto the bed. Light suddenly bathed the room, and Yoochun fought back tears at the site of his lover, unconscious.

But he was breathing. His face was still very pale, but his chest rose and fell.

Broken. Something broke.

“Jaejoong!” Yoochun touched him softly. His skin was so cold. He pulled the blanket over him and reached for the phone to call an ambulance. Just as his fingers closed around it, deep purple and blue marks blossomed on Jaejoong’s neck.

They looked just like fingers. Like someone had been choking him.

Yoochun tried not to panic and dialed a different number instead. There was no answer, so Yoochun called again, and again, until finally, a very sleepy Junsu answered the phone.

“Su. Yunho. I need. Yunho. Yunho.”

“Yoochun? Calm down. Yunho’s right here.”

“Please. Please. Jaejoong ... Jaejoong ...”

“Yoochun?” Yunho said.

Yoochun whimpered and couldn’t say much besides, “Help. Please. Jaejoong. Come. Our place. Please. Please.”

“I’m on my way. Take a deep breath. Come on. Deep breath.”

Yoochun inhaled.

“Where’s your inhaler? Do you need it?”

Yoochun shook his head. “Jaejoong. Hurt. Please.”

“I’m coming. I’m in the elevator. I’ll be there in ten minutes, okay? Call an ambulance if he’s hurt.”

“Can’t ... can’t. Oh god, Yunho. It almost killed him. Please.”

“Yoochun, you need to call an ambulance. If it’s serious, you need to call an ambulance. Junsu, call 911.”

Yoochun swallowed. “But ... but ... he ... I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it! Yunho. I didn’t.”

“I know you didn’t, Yoochun.”

The muffled sound of a siren filled the air.

“Five minutes,” Yunho said. “Five minutes. Tell me what happened.”

Yoochun kept his eyes on Jaejoong. “He ... something ... I don’t know. He wasn’t breathing. The bed was shaking.” The comforting feelings from the other spirits embraced him again, and Yoochun was able to finish telling Yunho in more coherent words what had happened and the voice that still echoed in his brain. He heard sirens and he wasn’t sure if it was Yunho or the ambulance.

“There ... there are finger ... marks on his neck. Like something was strangling him.”

“Which is why you called me.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m here. Is your door unlocked?”

“I don’t ... I don’t know. I don’t want to leave him.”

“I’ll get it,” Changmin’s voice suddenly said next to him. “It’ll be open.”

“Changmin says he can unlock it.”

“Good. We’re in the elevator. Twenty seconds.”

Yoochun nodded and the next thirty seconds were quiet. He jumped when someone moved his phone and arms wrapped around his waist. Yunho leaned over Jaejoong, checked his pulse and made sure he was still breathing. Yoochun warned him about the break he heard, so Yunho didn’t move him.

Yoochun leaned back against Junsu’s body.

A minute later his room was bombarded by EMTs and more police officers. It was chaos for a little while, but Yunho kept control. Kept the other officers away from Yoochun, and even managed to get Yoochun in the back of the ambulance with Jaejoong.

Everything blurred together. Yoochun stopped functioning, fingers clenched around the necklace.

What the fuck had happened?

\---|---

Almost three hours later, Yunho sat next to him in the waiting room chair.

Yoochun lifted bloodshot eyes and took the proffered cup of coffee with a muttered thanks.

Yoochun hated hospitals. So crowded. So many spirits. And when they found out he could see them, they tried to bombarded him with requests for help. Fortunately, Changmin, Jessica and the old ahjumma kept them away from him.

“Jaejoong is out of surgery. His arm was set and casted. His ribs aren’t broken, but they are bruised. His throat will be sore, but the doctors say there won’t be any lasting damage. He won’t be able to talk for a few days.”

Yoochun nodded, swallowing the steaming, bitter coffee. “Is that the good news or the bad news?”

Yunho tried to smile. “The good news.”

“And the bad?”

“They want to take you in and ask you some questions.”

Yoochun nodded again. He figured as much. It was why he called Yunho first.

“You don’t have to worry though. The cops can’t technically do anything if Jaejoong doesn’t press charges, and he won’t.”

“When can I see him?”

“He won’t be awake for a few more hours, but I’ll go see if you can sit with him. We’ll work on writing your official statement that doesn’t make you sound too crazy. You’re lucky the police force is familiar with you.”

Less than ten minutes later, Yoochun was sitting next to Jaejoong’s hospital bed. Jaejoong was still as breathtakingly beautiful as he was when Yoochun first met him. Even with his skin a ghostly shade of pale. His hair was black now, dyed after a fail job at bleaching it blonde, and he’d taken to wearing brightly colored contacts. The swirling lines of his tattoo were just visible above the wrap around his chest. Yoochun could see the word “My” but his name which followed it was obscured.

Mine. The scraggly voice echoed in his mind again. Mine.

Yoochun tried to focus on Jaejoong as his eyes droopped shut. He kept his fingers loosely in Jaejoong’s hand that didn’t have an IV in it. His body curled up, folded down in the chair. Despite the whispers around him, his body sagged and the energy drained and he fell asleep.

In a terrifying sense of deja vu, Yoochun snapped awake to Jaejoong shaking and whimpering. He sat up, blinked his eyes clear and turned to his lover. His smile froze.

Jaejoong’s eyes were looking at him with terrifying fear.

“Jaejoong?”

“No, no, no. Don’t hurt me. Please. No.”

“Jaejoong?” Yoochun said again and reached for him.

Jaejoong screamed, as loud as his sore throat could.

Yoochun slammed the nurse’s button and a moment later a nurse was there, and Jaejoong was screaming and trying to move away from Yoochun.

Yoochun put his hands up and stepped away from the bed.

Jaejoong turned his head away. There were tears on his cheeks. Yoochun’s heart ached to go to him. The nurse checked his vitals and asked him if he was in pain.

A moment later, Yunho came into the room.

“Yunho, don’t ...” Jaejoong coughed.

“You shouldn’t be talking,” Yunho said.

Jaejoong breathed in deeply, wincing and the nurse tutted at him and said she would be back with a bit more morphine.

“What happened?” Yunho asked.

Yoochun shrugged. “He ... he started ... he thinks I did this to him.”

“You did,” Jaejoong muttered. “He tried to kill me. Are you going to arrest him?”

Yunho was quiet for a long time and then he said, “Yoochun did not do this to you.”

Jaejoong’s voice wavered. “He did. He did!”

“Why don’t you tell me what you remember?”

Jaejoong did not look at either of them, but in a quiet voice he said, “I don’t know. I woke up to him on top of me and his hands on my neck and he said he was going to kill me and no one would believe me. He said he would kill me!”

Yoochun’s throat tightened and he shook his head. Yunho held up a hand.

“You were attacked by an unseen force. Yoochun isn’t sure what it was. A really, really strong demon or poltergeist.”

Jaejoong actually laughed. “You believe that? He’s saying a ghost did this?”

Yoochun met Yunho’s eyes, and asked, “You don’t believe in ghosts?”

“No! Are you crazy? He’s crazy. He’s going to kill me.”

“Yoochun is not going to kill you,” Yunho said. “You really think he could?”

Jaejoong’s breath hitched. “He tried.”

Yunho took a very deep breath and asked, “Jaejoong, how long have you been with Yoochun?”

Silent tears continued to drip down his cheeks, and Yoochun started crying too.

After a moment, Jaejoong whispered, “Eight years.”

“And has he ever been anything but obsessively devoted to you and in love with you for eight years?”

Jaejoong shook his head.

Yoochun whispered, “I love you. I could never, ever hurt you.”

“You did!”

“I didn’t.”

“You ... you ...”

“It wasn’t me. I promise.”

“A ghost? A demon?”

“Jaejoong,” Yunho said, giving Yoochun a look that told him to shut up, “do you remember when you first met Yoochun?”

“Of course. He made up a lame line about the cafe being full even though we were the only ones there.”

“Do you remember what else he told you that first time you met?”

Jaejoong finally turned his head and looked at Yoochun. “No.”

Yunho huffed.

“Something is really wrong,” Changmin said next to Yoochun.

Yoochun nodded. “I know.”

“What?” Jaejoong demanded.

“Just Changmin.”

“Who?”

Yoochun felt his mouth open in surprise.

“Yeah,” Changmin said and moved toward the bed. “He can’t ... it’s like he’s blocked or something. Like whatever did this put a block on all his memories about you being a medium.”

Yoochun took a very deep breath, but did not say that out loud.

Changmin ran his hand down Jaejoong’s arm, something that always got Jaejoong to jump or react in some way. But Jaejoong just stayed stoic, calm.

The nurse finally returned, apologizing about the delay. “You need to rest more.”

Jaejoong nodded and asked for some ice chips.

Yoochun wanted to go to his bedside, but he stayed put and it was Yunho who fulfilled the request.

“Are you going to press charges?” Yunho asked.

Jaejoong met Yoochun’s eyes for only a second.

“Think about it really hard because if you press charges, Yoochun is going to go to jail. And for a long time. He can’t defend himself against this. He didn’t do it, but with you saying he did, and him saying a demon did it. Well, who do you think the courts are going to believe?”

Jaejoong’s breath hitched again and more tears fell down his cheeks. But finally he shook his head, “N-no. But ...”

Yunho waited and then had to prompt, “What?”

“I can’t ... I can’t live with him. I can’t ... even ... he’ll hurt me.”

Yoochun opened his mouth to protest, but Yunho beat him to it. “I can promise you that Yoochun will not hurt you, but something in that house will. Something that you used to believe in.”

“That’s crazy.”

“But true. Will Soonli let you stay with her for a little while? Or you can stay with Junsu and me.”

“I’ll ... I’ll call Soonli.”

“Okay. I’ll call her for you, alright? And your mom. You’ll be here for a few more days. I know it’s hard, but you have to trust Yoochun right now. Just a little. He won’t hurt you.”

“I love you,” Yoochun said, voice breaking.

Jaejoong gasped and nodded, and turned his head away from him.

Yoochun felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest. It was silent in the room until the morphine put Jaejoong to sleep.

Yunho sighed and stood up. He rubbed his thighs. “It’s pretty common for a victim of abuse, especially when their breath is cut off, to forget things. But his memory is too selective. And the fact that he doesn’t remember anything about the supernatural is just a bit too neat.”

“Changmin says he has a block in his mind. He didn’t even react when Changmin touched him earlier.”

Yunho shook his head. “Jaejoong loves you. I don’t think even the demon could make him forget that. What are you going to do now?”

Yoochun shrugged. “I don’t know. But I don’t want him to be afraid when he wakes up. I’m going to go home, pack some things for him. See if I can figure this out. All I saw was darkness. And that voice. I’ll never forget that voice. It was scary. It was so powerful. I’ve never encountered something like that before.”

“I’ll write up an official statement with Jaejoong when he’s calmed down. We can’t make it seem like you did this.”

“What about the nurse?”

“We’ll talk to her. Don’t worry. You aren’t going to go to jail.”

Yoochun nodded. “Thanks.” He took a very deep breath and moved to the side of the bed. He smiled and moved the damp hair off Jaejoong’s pale skin. He leaned down and pressed a light kiss to his pliant lips and then his forehead. “I love you, Jaejoong. I will find out what did this to you.”

Swallowing another wave of tears, Yoochun turned around and left the room.

___|--|= 8 months later - Jaejoong =|--|___

There was something in his apartment.

Something that Jaejoong wasn’t quite ready to admit actually existed. He’d lived there for only two months. He’d stayed with his sister through the six months of his recovery, but he didn’t want to stay. He wanted his own place.

Partly to prove that he wasn’t an invalid, and partly to prove that he could survive without Yoochun in his life. Even if his heart ached every time he thought of his ex-boyfriend.

His heart ached, but his breath sped up in fear.

Yoochun’s face, mouth sneering down at him, hands tightening around his throat, still plagued his nightmares. Sometimes he woke up with the feel of fingers on his neck or over his mouth or squeezing painfully around his arm or leg. He woke up with bruises a lot.

Had Yoochun been telling the truth? Were there demons and ghosts in the world? Had he been attacked by one?

Yunho and Junsu had told him about Yoochun’s abilities, but Jaejoong had a very hard time believing it. Or the stories about him when he had lived with Yoochun.

He understood that he could have selective amnesia, but he’d undergone hypnosis and seen nothing but black. The hypnotist said his mind was pure. Nothing wrong.

Eight years. Eight years with a man who was two separate people in his head.

Jaejoong felt like he was going crazy.

There was a noise in the living room.

Jaejoong had stopped going to look. There wasn’t ever anything there.

At least, not that he could see.

Jaejoong curled up on his side, alone in bed, and waited until sleep came in the wee hours of morning. The feel of fingers in his hair or on his side, a weight around his middle, and breath puffing on his neck kept him awake. He wasn’t sure if it was real. Or if he only missed Yoochun.

In the waking moments before sleep finally tugged him, Jaejoong heard ragged laughter and felt breath on his ear. But he couldn’t move and even as his heart sped up, his body went slack.

Whispers of “mine” echoed through his dreams.

Jaejoong snapped awake, body frozen, but he knew he was still dreaming. He had to still be dreaming. The room was dark, too dark, and his eyes were open and all he saw was gray and black weaving mist. He screamed but the noise was ripped from him and swallowed. He tried to move again, and pain laced up body. Fingers closed around his neck, but there was no one above him. Nothing. Weight, heat, pain. He screamed again, and then again, and the mist twisted and formed a face that didn’t look human.

That laughter that had been whispering around him for weeks filled the room, and Jaejoong tried to move, struggling and screaming.

The face faded and morphed into a face that Jaejoong still loved, and it laughed at him.

Pain, more than Jaejoong had ever thought he could bear, ripped across his chest and stomach, and he screamed Yoochun’s name, begged Yoochun to stop it. Stop the pain, just like he had last time.

Jaejoong wasn’t sure how long the dream lasted until the room was suddenly quiet and filled with the noises from the city around him.

Everything swam. His stomach hurt. Jaejoong rolled over, entire body aching. His mouth was dry and full of a foul taste. Jaejoong did not want to get up.

Slowly, he lifted his head. The morning light twisted and twirled, and he swallowed back nausea. He gave up moving and let himself sleep for a little bit longer.

When he finally did wake up and managed to move without being sick, Jaejoong sat up. His body still ached and there was a sting across his stomach, like someone had scratched him. It itched a bit, but touching it made the pain flare. After a deep breath, Jaejoong stood up. He swayed, but walked carefully across the hall to the bathroom. He needed a shower. He brushed his teeth, wincing when the skin of his stomach was pulled tight.

“What the fuck?” he muttered. He tightened the hold on the toothbrush with his mouth and lifted up his shirt.

Jaejoong stopped breathing. His eyes went wide and the toothbrush fell to the sink.

In angry red welts, still dripping blood, carved right across his stomach was the word, “MINE”.

Jaejoong screamed, heard it echo around him, full of mocking laughter. He spit in the sink, spun around and flew down the hall. A door slammed behind him. Footsteps followed him into the living room.

Jaejoong whimpered, slid on a ratty pair of flip flops that weren’t actually his but the only thing of Yoochun’s he had allowed himself to keep. He grabbed his jacket and ran out of the apartment. And down the street. He didn’t have his keys or his phone or his wallet. But it wouldn’t have mattered. Jaejoong ran and put as much space between him and that ... thing ... as he could.

Eventually he had to walk. His stomach was on fire. Blood seeped through the thin white shirt, and Jaejoong hastily zipped up his hoody to hide it. His body ached even more, but he kept going. It took almost an hour to walk to the place he had called home for eight years. He was gasping and his mind was swimming again.

The door code hadn’t changed, and Jaejoong sighed in relief, already feeling safer, even if this was where he’d been attacked.

Yoochun could tell him. Yoochun could help him. Jaejoong didn’t really believe it, but he knew that he hadn’t scratched a word into his own body.

Jaejoong practically collapsed against Yoochun’s door and managed to lift a hand to knock.

“Jaejoong?” Yoochun gasped, and Jaejoong looked up. When had he fallen? He didn’t know.

“Help, please. Make it go away.”

Yoochun dropped next to him and reached for him and Jaejoong jerked away from his touch and then winced.

Yoochun frowned, and Jaejoong didn’t want him to frown and he shook his head and said, “Please, please.” He tried to push up his sweater and his shirt, and this time when Yoochun reached for him, he didn’t flinch away.

Yoochun pushed the clothes up and gasped. A moment later, he was helping Jaejoong to his feet and pulling him into the apartment.

“What happened?” Yoochun asked.

“Make it stop. Please.”

Yoochun pulled him to the couch and sat with him, arms around his shoulders and Jaejoong cried into his chest, somehow managing to tell him about everything that had happened to him and the words and the laughing.

“So scared, Chunnie-ah. I’m so scared all the time.”

Yoochun put his hands on Jaejoong’s cheek lightly and lifted his head. He wiped at his tears and tried to smile. “I will do everything I can to protect you. I promise. I had this place protected and blessed when the darkness didn’t go away. I’m sorry that it found you, that it’s been tormenting you.”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.”

Yoochun swallowed and his eyes filled with tears. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not. I ...” Jaejoong bit his lip against the L-word. His emotions were too out of whack to be confessing that. Especially when Yoochun’s face still appeared in his nightmares.

Yoochun hugged him and said, “Let’s go to the bathroom and I’ll put some ointment on your chest. And then you can sleep. You look like you haven’t slept well for months.”

Jaejoong wasn’t sure he could sleep, but if what Yoochun said was true, he was safe there. Safe from that thing anyway.

But safe from Yoochun?

He looked at him, really looked at him, and saw the same look of love and devotion that was always in his eyes and had been in his eyes since the second day in the cafe.

“I trust you,” Jaejoong whispered.

Yoochun smiled. “I would never hurt you.”

“I know.”

Jaejoong slept in the guest room, and slept for hours. When he woke up in the dark, he started to panic, but Yoochun was there, asleep in a chair, and Jaejoong calmed down. He was able to move and breathe, and he hadn’t had any nightmares.

“Jaejoong?” Yoochun mumbled, voice deep with sleep.

“I’m okay.”

“Good. Are you hungry?”

Jaejoong nodded.

“Do you want to cook?”

Jaejoong thought about that and then shook his head. “No. Help me sit up?”

Yoochun rose and moved to the bed. And when he reached for Jaejoong, Jaejoong didn’t flinch. He shut his eyes and leaned into Yoochun’s body for a moment.

Yoochun still smelled the same. He looked a bit tired and worn out.

Jaejoong understood. He wasn’t the only one who had lost their other half of eight years.

Yoochun moved a couple more pillows behind him and made sure he was comfortable. “Jjigae?”

Jaejoong smiled widely and nodded. “From Jangdokdae?”

“Of course. They’re the only ones that are almost close to the perfection that is your jjigae.”

Jaejoong laughed and pulled Yoochun close for a hug. Yoochun stiffened for a moment and then relaxed.

“I miss you,” Yoochun whispered.

Jaejoong nodded. “I miss you, too.”

\---

Three days later, Jaejoong saw someone out in the corner of his eye that wasn’t Yoochun. He gasped, spun to look, but the image was gone. He had seen something. He knew he had. His breathing sped up and he dropped the book he’d been reading and ran to the bedroom.

Yoochun’s. Where he felt safe when Yoochun wasn’t home.

He buried himself in the blankets and the faded smell of Yoochun and the cologne he loved, and Jaejoong tried not to go back to that dark place in his mind that doubted Yoochun.

Jaejoong stayed there until Yoochun came home a couple hours later. He said he had to go talk to Yunho about something.

He heard Yoochun call for him, once calm, a second time panicked. And then he was in the room, sitting on the bed. He put a careful hand on Jaejoong’s shoulder.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Jaejoong nodded. “I am now.”

“Changmin says that you saw him earlier and freaked out a bit.”

“Changmin?”

Yoochun nodded. “You don’t remember?”

Jaejoong shook his head. Yunho and Junsu had told him about Changmin, about how the boy had died and his funeral when they had all first met Junsu. They talked about this rivalry and the way Changmin liked to tease him by moving his spatulas and spoons when he was cooking. Jaejoong couldn’t remember any of that.

Yoochun cleared his throat. “I’d like you see the Wiccan priestess that cleansed this place. See if she can take the block off your mind.”

Jaejoong swallowed and thought about that. As much as he wanted to stay in his bubble of denial, he had a healing wound on his chest that no one had put there. He had tried everything else practically.

Jaejoong nodded. “Okay. I ... I want to remember. I do. I want ... I want the fear to go away.”

“Yeah, I know. Are you hungry?”

Jaejoong shook his head. “I can’t eat right now.”

“I’m going to go see if Ailee can come tomorrow, but that means I have to leave again. You’ll be alright?”

Jaejoong nodded. “I’m not leaving this room.”

Yoochun smiled and ran his hands through Jaejoong’s hair. “Okay. I’ll be back in a little while.”

That night, Jaejoong didn’t move any further than the side of bed, giving Yoochun enough space to slide in beside him. He reached behind himself, found Yoochun’s hand and gripped his fingers.

“Thank you,” Jaejoong whispered.

Yoochun cleared his throat. “For what?”

“Being ... you. Just ... Being ... I tore your heart out, and you’ve already forgiven me.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Jaejoong nodded in the dark and scooted back enough to press against Yoochun. It was a hint, and one that Yoochun took. He turned on his side, slipped his hand around Jaejoong’s waist and pressed a shaky kiss to the back of his neck.

The real thing felt much better than the whispers and ghostly fingers of his tormenter.

And this time, Jaejoong didn’t try to stop the words. He tightened his hold on Yoochun’s fingers and whispered, “I love you, god, Yoochun, I still love you so much.”

Yoochun’s breath hitched and he took a deep breath. He nuzzled against Jaejoong’s ear, and in a deep voice that sounded nothing like the one that had haunted his dreams, he said, “I have always loved you so much.”

Jaejoong turned around in Yoochun’s hold, and it was almost as if the last eight months hadn’t happened. Their lips sought and found each other easily, and Yoochun’s lips still felt the same though they were shaking. And so were Jaejoong’s.

“I love you,” Jaejoong gasped into the next kiss. “I love you.”

Yoochun nodded, and when he started crying, Jaejoong smiled and then laughed. “So emotional.”

“Shut up,” Yoochun grumbled and then pulled Jaejoong tightly against him and kissed him again, and then again. “I love you. You’re my heart and my light.”

Jaejoong smiled widely and twisted his legs up and around and his arms over until he was in his favorite position that Yoochun always called the octopus. Jaejoong didn’t care. He took another deep breath and relaxed in his lover’s arms.

___|--|= The Very Next Morning - Yoochun =|--|___

Yoochun woke up to an icy douse of air on his legs. He blinked a few times and groggily lifted his head from the spot where it’d been buried against Jaejoong’s back.

Changmin was smirking at him.

“What?” Yoochun muttered.

“Can’t wait until you two fuck again. I’ve missed watching.”

Yoochun groaned. “Oh, god, Minnie. Fuck you.”

Changmin chuckled. “So Yunho had a brilliant idea after you left his house yesterday, and he’s been up all night at the station trying to figure it out.”

Yoochun very carefully sat up. Jaejoong whimpered in protest and his arms wrapped around Yoochun’s stomach. Yoochun ran his fingers along the deep scar that marred his arm. Jaejoong did not wake up.

“What idea?”

“He’s pretty sure that you pissed someone off,” Changmin said. “One of a cop’s biggest worries is that someone they put in jail will come after them in revenge. Yunho’s been going through the cases that you’ve helped them with.”

“Revenge? Great.”

“Also, it followed Jaejoong here. We can all feel it, but I can’t tell you exactly where it is. The protections are strong, but if even one area weakens, it could get in.”

Yoochun nodded. “I’ll have Ailee reinforce them when she gets here.”

“Not too strong,” Changmin said with another smirk, “or do you want me to go away?”

Yoochun chuckled.

And Jaejoong woke up with a muttered whisper of his name. “What ... what? Who’re you talking to?”

“It’s just Changmin.”

Jaejoong made a face. “Tell him to go away. Sleeping.”

“Well, it’s time to get up. Ailee will be here soon.”

Jaejoong’s face scrunched in a pout that Yoochun had never been able to resist and he leaned down and pressed a kiss to his mouth. The pout turned into Jaejoong’s beautiful smile.

Changmin made gagging noises. “I can handle the fucking,” he said as he floated toward the door, “but not the sickeningly sweet lovey-dovey shit.”

Yoochun ignored him and resettled with Jaejoong, their lips still together in soft kisses.

“God, missed you,” Jaejoong muttered.

“I missed you, too.”

“Love you so much. Love you. I’m so sorry. I love you.”

Yoochun nodded, throat tight against words and kept kissing his beautiful soul mate. At least for a little while. “My light,” he whispered. “You are my light.”

“Well, your light needs to pee.”

Yoochun laughed and brushed their noses together. He rolled away and then helped Jaejoong up. After another kiss, Jaejoong went to the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth. Yoochun checked his phone and had a confirmation from Ailee that she would be there in an hour. Yoochun started coffee and then moved to the fridge to start preparing breakfast.

Jaejoong’s arms wrapped around his middle and Yoochun smiled, leaned against him and then turned around for a kiss.

With a smile, Jaejoong reached between and gripped the crescent necklace that always hung around Yoochun’s neck (well, sometimes they took it off when they were fucking and knew they’d be getting really messy).

“I really ... I just realized,” Jaejoong said and met Yoochun’s eyes. “In what my mind is telling me is a memory, you aren’t wearing this. It’s not the main reason why I should have known something was wrong, but it is a pretty big clue.”

Yoochun cupped his cheeks and kissed him. “It’s not your fault. Possession and suppression are common when it comes to demons.”

“This is so weird. It’s like ... I feel like I believe it, but every time I think that, I feel stupid.”

“You saw Changmin yesterday, right?”

“I ... I think so.”

“Changmin,” Yoochun said, “go stand by the door.”

Jaejoong turned his head to look and Yoochun used his finger to turn it back. “Changmin was smart in life, and he’s getting smarter in death. He’s learning how to present himself without stealing energy from the living. Don’t focus on it, just look at me.”

Jaejoong smiled and touched his cheek. “Can’t keep my eyes off you.”

Changmin moaned and the sound echoed through the kitchen.

Jaejoong jumped.

Changmin laughed. “It’s like the first time all over again.”

This time it was Yoochun smiling at Jaejoong. “Yeah. It really is.” Their lips met.

“Ugh, hyung. Gross with the lovey dovey kissing again.”

“What really is?” Jaejoong asked with their lips still together.

Yoochun explained, complete with Changmin’s distaste for the kissing. Jaejoong smiled, eyes still on Yoochun and not the fuzzy man-shaped thing in the corner of his eye. He held out a hand, middle finger in the air, and used his other hand to pull Yoochun down for a kiss. Again, Changmin groaned and Jaejoong shivered.

“I’ve gotten used to that, right?”

Yoochun smiled. “Yes. You have.”

Yoochun put his forehead against Jaejoong’s. He loved how much they fit together. The hole in his heart the last eight months was finally stitching shut.

“You’re going to burn breakfast,” Changmin said.

Yoochun smiled and kissed Jaejoong’s nose. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t need anything else right now.”

“I love you,” Jaejoong said.

Changmin said something else scathing as their lips met again.

Reluctantly, Yoochun pulled away and stayed next to Jaejoong, their hands touching, smiles distracting, but still he helped his lover make their first breakfast together in what felt like years.

Jaejoong seemed a little nervous when Ailee showed up, but he was more than willing to let her lead him through a series of mental cleansing and personal protection rituals. Jaejoong panicked only once during a moment when Ailee created a shield for him. Yoochun watched and saw a grey mass twist and spiral from Jaejoong’s head. It slammed against the shield, and Ailee wavered for a moment, called upon a spirit and then it was gone.

Ailee met Yoochun’s eyes and nodded and finished the ritual. She warned Jaejoong not to move and opened the circle enough to sit next to him. She helped him breathe and relax and then the two of them thanked the great spirits for their help. When the final offerings were given and the candle snuffed, Ailee helped Jaejoong to his feet. He stood there for a moment, wavering and then turned and bowed, whispering words that Yoochun did not hear even though they were only a few feet apart.

And then he turned around, met Yoochun’s eyes and smiled.

Yoochun smiled back and held out his arms, and Jaejoong flew into them. “God, I love you. I love you. I’m so sorry.”

Yoochun pressed a kiss to his head. “Stop apologizing for something that isn’t your fault. Do you feel better?”

Jaejoong nodded. “I feel like myself again.”

“And your memories?”

“All there.”

“Good.”

“Thank you,” Jaejoong said, turning just his head to face Ailee.

She smiled. “Any time. I can still feel the presence though.”

Yoochun nodded. “Changmin says it’s in the building.”

Ailee frowned. “I can’t do protections spells for the entire building without upsetting someone. I’d need my coven for it, too.”

“I understand,” Yoochun said. “We’re working on figuring out who or what it is and why it is targeting me. Maybe I can reason with it if I know what it wants.”

“If it proves too much for you, call me.”

“I will.”

“Thank you so much,” Jaejoong said again, and reluctantly let go of Yoochun so they could help Ailee pack up her things.  
  
After Ailee had left with a promise to call and make sure Jaejoong was okay, Jaejoong pulled Yoochun down the hall toward the bathroom. Changmin’s disembodied laughter followed them.  
  
Jaejoong slammed the bathroom door shut, pushed Yoochun against it and attacked his mouth and shoved his hands into the front of Yoochun’s sweats.  
  
Yoochun yanked his head away from Jaejoong’s lips, slamming it against the door. Jaejoong protested but moved the harsh kisses to Yoochun’s throat.  
  
“Jaejoong, stop wait, just ... hang on.”  
  
Jaejoong glared at him. “I haven’t splattered come all over the bathroom counter for eight months. Almost nine. I want you inside me. I want you to fuck me.”  
  
Yoochun moaned and with surprising steady hands unbuttoned Jaejoong’s jeans.

“Yoochun!”

Yoochun moaned again, and then realized that the voice calling his name was not Jaejoong.

“Yoochun!” Yunho’s voice echoed through the apartment.

“Fuck him,” Jaejoong muttered. “Fuck him. Didn’t we lock the door?”

“Changmin has learned to unlock it whenever he wants.”

“Fuck that stupid ghoul, too.”

“Yoochun!”

“Oh my god what?” Yoochun shouted back. “This better be important.”

“It is!”

Yoochun thunked his head to the door again, eyes open and on Jaejoong. He hoped that the look showed Jaejoong just how much he wanted him. The answering smile and smolder showed him that he succeeded. Jaejoong reached up and tangled his hands in Yoochun’s long hair. He pressed their lips together for a slow kiss that made Yoochun glad he was leaning against the door.

“I love you,” Jaejoong said.

“I love you, too.”

Their lips lingered for another moment, and then Changmin came through the door, half through Yoochun and Jaejoong’s body.

Jaejoong shivered. “Fuck that was weird ... and cold.”

“That was Changmin.”

“Yunho is awesome,” Changmin said. “Come on. He thinks he’s figured it out.”

Yoochun sighed, but nodded.

Jaejoong let him turn around, but he kept his hands on his arm, and then his back and then around his waist. They entered the kitchen entwined and Yunho smiled at them. He sat at the table with a fresh cup of coffee. Yoochun headed to the pot for his own. He felt that he was going to need it.

Yunho’s smirked. “Kiss bruised lips and erections. I take it things are back to normal.”

Jaejoong snorted. “I guess, if having some weird demonic thing after you is considered normal.”

Yunho motioned to the manila folder on the table. “That might put things into perspective.”

Yoochun sat down and Jaejoong sat as close to him as possible, keeping his arms around his neck and face pressed to his shoulders.

Yoochun opened the manila folder and almost spit his coffee out all over it. “Baekhyun? He died?”

“No, he’s very much alive, still rotting away in prison. He won’t be getting out unless it’s in a casket.”

Yoochun glared at the smug look reflected in the mug shot photo. The man had kidnapped, raped and murdered three girls, the oldest was ten. There was no evidence, until Yoochun got involved. Everything against Baekhyun was circumstantial and to the day he was sentenced he claimed he was innocent. It’d been the worst case he had ever worked on, and Jenna, the sweet thing, had helped the three girls find Yoochun so they could lead him to their bodies, and then to the place where a fourth child was being held. A building that Baekhyun rented. Baekhyun still said he hadn’t done it, and there was absolutely no physical evidence. His computer and phone had been confiscated and there was some information about two of the girls, but Baekhyun swore it was just a coincidence.

And then the girls had led him through Baekhyun’s house. In a dream. He’d called Yunho the next day and said they had to go look again. In the baby’s room, in the closet, behind a panel. Physical souvenirs from each victim. Baekhyun still said he didn’t do it. The defense tried to blame Baekhyun’s friends.

The case almost drove him crazy. It was the first major case since he had started dating Jaejoong.

He still saw the girls every now and then, playing in the living room. He left teddy bears out for them.

“His wife committed suicide. Killed their six year old son and slit her wrists.”

Yoochun’s eyes widened and he stared in shock at Yunho. “W-when?”

“Almost a year ago.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s on a vendetta.”

“What is her name?”

“Kwon Yuri.”

Jaejoong sat up. “Yoochun’s involvement in that case was never revealed to the public. How would she ...” He trailed off. “Fuck. She found out after she died, didn’t she?”

“Probably,” Yoochun said and pressed a kiss to Jaejoong’s temple.

“So how do we get rid of her?”

Yoochun sighed. “I don’t know. If she found out I helped, then she could find out that Baekhyun did rape and kill those kids.”

“I don’t think that would matter,” Yunho said. “What’s the phrase, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’.”

Jaejoong snorted. “So now what?”

Yoochun leaned back in his chair, fingers trailing over Jaejoong’s thigh. “I’m going to go talk to her. Changmin, do you know where she is?”

“I’ll go find out,” Changmin said and winked out just as Jaejoong demanded, “Right now?” with his voice rising in protest.

“Good time for it, after Ailee’s reinforcement of the protection spells.”

“She’s in the basement,” Changmin said, right next to Yoochun’s elbow.

“Of course she is,” Yoochun muttered. At their questioning looks, he explained, “She’s in the basement.”

“Probably doing laundry,” Jaejoong said with a smile. “The afterlife is probably really harsh on fabrics.”

Yoochun laughed and rubbed their noses together. “God, I’ve missed you. I’ve missed this.”

“Me, too. Be safe.”

Yoochun nodded and gripped the cross around his neck. “I will be.” He grabbed his phone and his inhaler.

Jaejoong stopped him at the door and kissed him deeply. “You owe me.”

“Eight months worth. I know.”

Jaejoong smiled. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. I’ll be back.”

“I know.”

Their lips touched one more time and then Yoochun turned and left the apartment. He took a deep breath to stabilize himself and headed down the hall. He bypassed the elevator and took the stairs. Both were dangerous with a spirit after him, but he could hang on to a handrail all the way down.

He thought about what to say, and with each step, knew that nothing he could think of would be enough. This woman lost her husband, and then her mind, and her child. Yoochun had no idea how to help a spirit so broken.

Yoochun felt the energy change the further down he went. At the bottom, the power behind the door was almost stifling. He shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths, said a silent prayer for strength and help from whoever (or whatever) was listening.

“Don’t worry,” a voice said next to him. “I got your back.”

Yoochun spun around, eyes widening and mouth opening.

His father stared back at him, smiling. “Hey.”

“D-dad?”

“On this earth I was your father, yes.”

Yoochun stepped forward and the image wavered and he tried to keep the anguish from his face. He wanted to hold onto his father and never let him go. “W-why? Wh-where?”

With a chuckle, his father nodded at the door behind him. “Just because you can’t see me, doesn’t me I’m not there. You ought to know that by now.”

“But I ... you ... what?”

“I know you wanted to see me before,” he continued, “but I wanted you to understand that you’re strong enough to be on your own. Not completely, of course, because of the gift you have. Some are not a lucky as you. Yes, it feels like a curse some days, but it’s also a blessing since you understand what comes after this life.”

“I don’t understand. Why now?”

Yoochun’s father raised his eyebrows and the image wavered again with his amusement. “Because now and almost a year ago, the person you love the most was threatened. I like Jaejoong. He’s good for you, balances you. You need help. Love is a universal emotion. It’s difficult to explain love in the afterlife. Think of it as a balance. Or the force.”

Yoochun laughed.

His father smiled. “It surrounds us and binds us to those we’ve been close too. Or will be close to. You won’t be fighting evil behind that door, just deep, misunderstood love.”

“How? How do I do that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Let’s go find out.”

Yoochun stared at him for a bit longer, nodded and turned around to open the door. As soon as he stepped into the laundry room, heat and darkness enveloped him. There was a scream that felt like it was torn from his brain. It took a moment for everything to clear and Yoochun found himself on his hands and knees, gasping.

But love, support, strength stood around him. The darkness swirled beyond him.

“Yuri, stop,” Yoochun whispered.

“Mine!”

Yoochun shook his head. “No, not yours.”

“You took what was mine!” A woman stood in front of him. A pale blue dress stained with blood covered her. Both of her wrists were bleeding gashes.

A baby cried, and she screamed again, arms lashing out. Yoochun felt his skin burn and then the entity was across the room, screaming at him.

“Perfect, perfect. Everything was perfect.”

Yoochun tried to get up and more pain lashed over his back.

“How could he ... he wasn’t ... how could he do that? He couldn’t. He was perfect. You lied. You lied.”

Yoochun focused on keeping his mind his own and then said, “Have you gone to see him?”

The oppressive feeling settled more deeply around him.

“Go talk to him,” Yoochun gasped. “Go ask him if he did it. You don’t even need to ask.”

The wailing returned and cold lashed at Yoochun’s skin. A different force buoyed him up enough that he could push up to his knees.

“Your baby is safe,” Yoochun’s father said. “He is safe and happy where he is. You can see him when you want. When you remember--”

“I suffer! He will suffer!”

“You know that isn’t how it works. You cannot mess with the balance. You place blame with the wrong person.”

“Yuri, please,” Yoochun said. “You know the truth. You do.”

The darkness swirled around the woman’s image and she screamed again and again. A burst of energy knocked Yoochun to the floor.Yoochun fought for breath. Chanting filled the room. A language that Yoochun had never heard. The darkness contracted. Everything was so hot. An intense pressure filled his head and he screamed.

Laughter echoed around him.

“You are not stronger than us,” Yoochun’s father said.

“Strong enough to destroy him. Strong enough for that!”

Yoochun struggled to his knees again. He gripped the necklace tightly, thought of Jaejoong and added his voice to the chanting. He had no idea what he said, but the darkness billowed and weaved, and the screaming from the ghost turned to shallow echoes.

Slowly the oppression lessened. Slowly the air cleared.

Slowly Yoochun learned to breathe again.

“You are not welcome here,” Yoochun’s father said, “and you will be forcefully removed if you return. Go and find your answers. They are not here.”

Yoochun was able to push up to this knees again and he lifted his head. The laundry room looked normal besides the churning mass of gray in a corner. The pain in his heart hadn’t lessened, but it wasn’t his own pain, but hers.

“Be at peace, Kwon Yuri,” Yoochun said. “Find your peace.”

The mass stilled and then shattered. There was no noise outside of Yoochun’s mind. Each jagged piece hit the ground and evaporated. Yoochun watched and controlled his breathing. His hand was still clenched around the necklace.

“You okay, son?”

Yoochun nodded. “Yes. Thank you.” Yoochun closed his eyes and focused saying thank you beyond his father and this room.

This entity was too strong for him.

“You shouldn’t have problems with her. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

Yoochun finally stood up, using the wall to support himself. “I don’t know what would have happened without you here.”

“She would have destroyed you.”

Yoochun glanced at him. “While true, not comforting.”

His father chuckled. “You asked for help when she first attacked Jaejoong, and you received that help. You probably will whenever you truly need the help and you truly ask for it. You’re connected to both worlds. It makes you special, but also vulnerable. But you aren’t arrogant. I like to think I raised you well.”

Yoochun smiled. “You did a great job. Thank you for helping before. I don’t know what I would do without Jaejoong.”

“This was beyond your control, and Jaejoong has always been yours to protect and love.”

Yoochun pondered his father for a moment. “Always? To you that word means something different than it does to me.”

His father laughed. “Yes, it does. This isn’t your first lifetime together. It won’t be your last, but you’re not supposed to know that.”

“So reincarnation is right?”

“Right?”

“Yeah. That’s how the afterlife works.”

“Son, haven’t you learned yet that no one is right and everyone is right?”

“What?”

“Heaven is what you make of it. The afterlife is there, as you well know, but if you are tormented on earth, you will be tormented in your own version of hell, unless you change. If you’re happy, then there is heaven. You told Yuri to find her peace. If she finds her peace, then she can be happy. She can have another chance at life.”

“So is there a god?”

His father smiled and then laughed. “Perhaps.”

Yoochun smiled back.

“Go back to your lover. I’m going to go find Yuri and help lead her to her peace.”

Yoochun’s smile fell. “Will I see you again?”

With a small smile, his father moved toward him, wavering, almost see through. “Eventually, yes. But again, just because you can’t see me doesn’t mean I’m not right here.” His hand sank into Yoochun’s chest, right where his necklace was. Yoochun looked down, and then up, and his father was gone.

Yoochun’s chest tightened and he gripped the necklace tightly. He took a very deep breath and left the laundry room. His body was completely weak, and just walking took it’s toll on his energy. Feeling safe, he took the elevator up to his floor.

Jaejoong was waiting for him with the door open. He smiled widely though Yoochun saw the worry in his eyes. He smiled in return and let Jaejoong help him inside and to the couch.

“You’re so beautiful,” Yoochun said.

Jaejoong nodded. “I know.”

Yoochun laughed and curled up against him.

“What happened?” Yunho asked.

Yoochun kept his eyes shut and tried to explain everything.

“So we’re safe?” Jaejoong asked.

Yoochun nodded.

“Until the next one.”

Yoochun moaned. “I don’t even want to think about that.”

“I’ll still be here,” Jaejoong whispered and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Yoochun smiled. “I know. Apparently you’re stuck with me forever.”

Jaejoong looked at him, face confused.

“Do you remember that day when I started joking about us being soul mates?”

Jaejoong smiled widely. “Of course.”

“Well, we are. My father says this is not our first life together, or our last.”

Jaejoong hugged him tightly. “Good. Thank god. The thought of ... I just ... sometimes I think of what would happen if you died or I died and how we would meet again. Or if we would. I never want to be separated from you again.”

“Same here.”

“Well, I’ll leave you two to your love fest,” Yunho said and headed for the door. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

Jaejoong chuckled. “Bring Junsu over for dinner tomorrow. I definitely owe you this time, not just Yoochun.”

“He owes me, too.”

“True. Guess I’ll be making japanese food tomorrow.”

“You know me well.”

As soon as Yunho was gone, Changmin materialized on the other side of the room. “So are you two going to fuck or what?”

Yoochun burst out laughing and had to explain to Jaejoong.

Jaejoong rolled his eyes and turned Yoochun’s face to his. Their lips met for a moment. “No fucking until he feels better. Just love and sappiness.”

Changmin’s groan echoed around them.


End file.
